Dr. Aponte and Dr. Tanase

Our defense time came and passed ..... and we do not feel specially different. Maybe a little sad ...there is nothing more we can go for ...academically speaking. Our student days are finished and we have to start working...

Regarding the defenses, we both got the maximum qualification "sobresaliente cum laude". Cris did an excellent presentation since even her chemist friends understood what was all about. Then she answered during 90 minutes to a lot of questions with no problem.

My presentation was much better than expected :))) The day before I did a rehearsal with my bosses which went soooo bad that everybody was worried. However, when the D day came I switched to my "presentation mode" and everything went fine. Since my defense committee was a mixture between "radar" and "fire" people I had to answer mostly to questions on the utility of my work and how I see it applied to the real world. (Cris: And it was then when the real Tanase got in scene and said: " not to bother my bosses, but actually radar and fires in Spain are quite a useless combination". 100% PURE HONESTY!!)

Now, after the "storm" everything is more calm and we prepare for our departure. December 31 is the last day on the old continent ....1st of January Asiaaaa. Do you think the Emirates airline will give us something to celebrate New Years Eve???

Next stop - Australia

With our PhD finished we go for new adventures ...last week I was granted a post doc fellowship at the University of Melbourne. Because we are quite tired of living apart we will go together and Cris will try to find a job as soon as possible.

So if you want to visit us you are welcomed ..... just take a number since we will be veryyyy busyyy visiting Oceania and South Asia in our spare time :).

Mr. and Miss. PhD

Dear all,

I am proud to announce that today we have both submitted our thesis !!!!
Now we have to wait for the bureaucratic procedures to take place in order to defend our works of art.... sorry science :)

P.S.
now you have to use one of the following when speaking to my highness
"casi doctor"
"almost PhD"
or
"aproape doctor"

Norway in a nutshell

For my last conference as a PhD student I went to Bergen, Norway. After two days of conference I took a day off. Taking advantage of the superb day we had today I went for the Nordic experience …5 hours of boat through the longest fjord in the world and another 3 hours of train seeing nice landscape (Bergen – Balestrand-Flam – Myrdal – Bergen). After this marathon 10 hours trip I got a little bit the taste of Norway and someday I will come back for real holidays. I think the best part of the trip was the last hour of boat when the fjord is getting narrow and the first hour of train from Flam to Myrdal. The rest is also nice but I would not do it again because is too tiring.
And now some photos…

P.S. Norway is expensive ….. a beer is around 10 euro …. :(

Almost done with the PhD

.... my third peer reviewed article was accepted yesterday...so more or less I am done with the thesis although I will have to do some kind of introduction/resume in Spanish. Maybe I will add more things but the minimum requirements (3 peer reviewed + 1 not reviewed articles) are at least fulfilled.

Gone for holidays for the next couple of months :))))